Features

During the 1925 Scott Trial, Marjorie Cottle (Raleigh) maintains forward momentum Marjorie was born in 1900, in Wallasey, Merseyside, and in her teenage years she began to share her father’s enthusiasm for motorcycling. He even provided her first road bike – a single speed Premier she was obliged to rebuild from its scrap condition. She…

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1953 Norton Dominator 88 When the Featherbed frame made its bow, little could those who witnessed its triumphant debut have realised that for the next 20-odd years, it would be the benchmark by which others, in motorcycle handling terms, would be judged. And most riders who experienced the thrills (and occasional spills) of Norton Featherbed…

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2010 Norton Works 30M This is the first of the brand new Norton 30M Works racers, built under the guidance of Patrick Walker and partner Miles Robinson, but fully authorised and with the complete support of current Norton boss Stuart Garner. Patrick drew everything for the new Norton engine in six months, taking his drawings…

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Born in Battersea in 1908, Jessie first rode a motorcycle in 1919, aged 11, courtesy of her older brother, George. At 16, she had a two-speed Scott Super Squirrel, on which she enjoyed considerable competition success. Around this same time (1926) she founded the London Ladies Club, before beginning a long association with New Imperial,…

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Ariel Leader owners’ report What are the verdicts? "A flashy, tinny, underpowered, over-rated machine," groans C. S. Coop of Sale, Cheshire. But from Birmingham, J. M. Cooper cries, "I have never enjoyed motorcycling so much since I bought a Leader!" Ariel's gaffer, Ken Whistance, driving force behind the Leader project, can heave a sigh of…

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1972 BSA A65 Lightning Asked to name BSA’s best-ever motorcycles, many enthusiasts would plump for the Gold Star or the Rocket Gold Star, while those who think that rear suspension is unnecessarily effete might opt for the Sloper (whose star-marked tuned engines incidentally led to the later models’ names). Some down to earth souls might…

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1949 BSA Plunger Golden Flash Soon, the new big BSA was a favourite and, updated over the years, it continued to sell well throughout the 1950s, gaining its swinging arm frame, better brakes and such, as the decade passed. The cooking model was replaced by the A65 Star for 1962; the old model's passing was…

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Indian Four (pdf) Peter had in fact first set eyes on the 1937 four-in-line about 24 years ago, at which time it was owned by a Commander Hare who had an engineering business in Wrington. Little did he realise than that some three-odd years later he would become the next owner. However, by then the…

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Riders on the starting grid, preparing for the off. Start time was 8am In TCM’s September 2012 issue, we used a photograph from this same event, of winner Jim Whalley refuelling his Douglas, though this selection of pictures proved too irresistible to discard a revisit. To recap – the 1923 Grand Prix (then a single…

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Fiercely independent Theresa Wallach The fiercely independent motorcycle explorer was no stranger to long motorcycle trips, having, in 1935, ridden from London to Cape Town on Panther and sidecar, pulling a trailer. Accompanied by Florence Blenkiron, the journey is documented in a book, The Rugged Road. She was one of only three ladies to earn…

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